Ladakh - A lesson in Gratitude & Pure Living
The Ladakh Memoir | Part 1
What better place than the Land of Gorgeous mountains, beautiful rivers and impeccable hospitality, and what better reason than a milestone birthday as a get-away!
We landed in Leh on a beautiful sunny Sunday! Armed with tips and tricks from Tuku and a few of our friends, and ably assisted by our guide and driver for the trip – Tenzing, we started ticking off from a longgg bucket list within 15-20 minutes of breathing the freshhhhh mountainous pure air!
Our first pit-stop was the ‘Hall of Fame’ Museum (War Memorial) where we heard war stories from pre-independence right until the Kargil war of 1999! After paying respects and saluting the brave heroes, we headed to our hotel – a very sweet place named ‘Gyalpo Residency’!
From the balcony of the room, we could view the lovely mountains, endless lines of Kashmiri willow trees and the organic farms that was co-owned by the hotel – we then realized that all the vegetables that the hotel served in their food was procured from this organic garden - It's little wonder the food tasted soooo soooo good!
We met our trip coordinator – a wonderful, enterprising lady called Lobzang, and finalised our plan for the week ahead! In the evening, we visited the ‘Leh Palace’. Guess it’s the sense of pride for the locals given it once housed the Ladakhi royalty, else the palace (like many other historical sites in India) is unfortunately in a dilapidated state! An old fortress sort-of a structure housing a Buddhist praying place, it made for a lovely walk and watching the entire valley / the city of Leh was the memorable part that will certainly stay with us! We also picked up some beautiful hand-made woollen wear knitted by the local women, selling them on the narrow pavement leading back from the 'Palace'.
Our next stop was the buzzing ‘Leh Market’ – it reminded us of our time in Gangtok, Sikkim 1.5 years ago! A charming place with 1000s of visitors, mostly tourists, it’s the shopping haven that boasts of 100s of small and medium-sized shops that sell local products - mainly Pashmina, woolen and silk garments! There are tonnes of shops that also sell Ladakhi artefacts, especially symbolisms of the Buddhist way of life! We headed back to the hotel by 8:30 p.m. to be in time for a not-too-late dinner! Our first day in Leh was simply beautiful!
Day 2 , also the eve of ma birthday 😎, we began our day by visiting the ‘Spituk Gompa’ – A beautiful monastery nestled among the hills, from here we got a beautiful view of the Leh city as well as the airport landing strip! We were lucky to watch an army pilot manoeuvring the fighter jet in ways unimaginable to a civilian! The plane flew as close to the mountain as possible, took a nose-up vertical climb into the sky and then turned around, pretended to land, came a few feet close the ground, and then was up in the sky in seconds! We were simply awed by the brilliance of the skilled fighter jet pilot who seemed to own the skies and was brave enough to do all these manoeuvres impeccably!
We then headed to the Paththar Saheb Gurudwara where Raj and I had our first-ever Langar food! Legend has it that an evil demon who scared the villagers and killed one everyday was turned into a helpful being after realizing the divine powers of Guru Nanak! The huge stone is now considered sacred and with liberal donations from different infantries and cavalries of the Indian Army, this beautiful Gurudwara has become the symbol of peace and humanity! The Indian Army soldiers guard this Gurudwara, discipline wayward tourists not following simple instructions and serve food while ensuring that the place is spotlessly clean! Hats off to them!
We then headed toward the Magnetic Hill and while I found it amusing that at this particular spot, the car when on neutral gear and engine switched off indeed got pulled toward the magnetic, Raj thinks it’s non-scientific and just a slope! We experienced the same divided opinion among many others – there were the surprised believers in ‘magic’, and then there were the reality/ logic-oriented!
Here’s when I experienced Quad biking! While I have ridden the desert bike along with R and D in Vietnam, riding this was another story altogether! The rugged terrain along with the super sensitive handle of the dirt bike made it an effort to manoeuvre the vehicle! It was a 2-km+ ride, and it took me over 50% of the distance and time to acquaint myself with the dos and don’ts of dirt-biking in this terrain! Post this, I was riding the dirt-bike like a champ, or so says Raj!!
10-12 kms from here was the Sangam point – the place where the Indus (Sindhu) and the Zanskar river – also the starting point of the infamous ‘Chader Trek’. Watching the magnificent mountains and the different colours of the two rivers - An absolute peace-rendering exercise! It was an otherwise warm / hot afternoon, yet the river water was colddd – Sitting there for over an hour with our feet dipped into the flowing river, and experiencing some stones float- I know it’s unbelievable for a stone to float, yet there was something unique about this confluence spot! Check it out for yourselves if you still don’t believe us!
At dinner time, the hotel staff greeted us with a cake sent by the travel advisor ‘Thrillophilia’ – the enterprising Lobzang had gotten it delivered to the super-hospitable staff at Gyalpo! Was thrilled beyond belief, and at midnight, I realised that Raj and the kids had ordered one more cake! What a fancy way to bring in the 40s!💃🎉🥂
Day 3 - We headed to Khardung-La – one of the highest motorable roads in the world! Got to record some awesome video messages with the snow-filled mountains in the background! This place and the drive to and from Khardung-La reminded me of our visit to the Zero Point in Sikkim! Thanks to the Indian Army and the BRO (Border Roads Organization), there are actual roads at altitudes that one can barely imagine – Simply an engineering marvel, carving roads cutting through the mountains! The amusing part is the warning signs on these roads – “Watch out for Rolling Stones” they read! Thanks bro, yet can you tell me what to do when the stones / boulders roll… 😂🥵
On our way to Hunder in the Nubra Valley, we stopped by an adventure camp that offered thrilling experiences such as Zip-Lining, ATV ride and river rafting! We climbed up what seemed like 7-8 floors atop a mountain, and the 2-minute zip-lining experience was second to none! Super scary when I began, the liberating feeling one gets when zip lining between the mountains on what seems like a desert is hard to explain in words! The adrenaline high one feels post this – Simply wow!
While we’re not into zoos and sanctuaries, Tenzing insisted that we visit the sand dunes where the Mongolian camels reside! 🐫 A source of income for the Hunder locals, the two-humped camels looked tortured when humans weighing 50 & 100 kgs insisted on riding them!
We entertained ourselves with a round of Archery instead – and I realized yet again that it was a good decision that I did not take up any sports, seriously! This place also hosted the ‘Lavatory Lounge’ that amused us, esp given that quite a few dignitaries from the ruling government had made their presence felt to inaugurate the same! #LavatoryLounge #RibbonCuttingCeremony 😂🤣
We stayed at this wonderful place called ‘The Organic Retreat’ – this is where we discovered the Kahwa- the local tea for Kashmiris and Ladakhis! To say that I’m an absolute fan of this drink is an understatement! I have brought in supplies to make the same when we’re back in Blr! 😊
The next morning, we headed for Siachen – it was one of the longest drives among the 900+ kms we covered by road in Ladakh! The funny story – when you look up Siachen on weather.com or Google, they indicate the temperature for the ‘Glaciers’, while the base camp that you actually cannot go beyond, is a good 20 degrees warmer! Raj and I looked at ourselves sheepishly dressed in our thermals and woollens while battling the warm afternoon sun walking back from the War Memorial and the infamous OP Baba temple; Legend has it that all army jawans take blessing from before the ascent to The Siachen Galciers! It was a wonderful lesson in history and how these brave men (and women) face the harshest of conditions to guard the country’s borders from our neighbours!
The drive back was one of the longest ever – Tenzing insisted we visited the Hot Springs at Panamik village! With zero help, we went through a funny hill and reached a smalllll area which boasted the ‘Hot Springs’ that apparently provides one the elixir of life – All disease healing, we were told! We then visited another Monastery housing the Maitreya Buddha – a temple still under construction and getting readied for the visit that His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama will be visiting the same evening as part of his Ladakh tour!
Pro-tip - If you're landing directly into Leh (rather than drive up from Delhi / Chandigarh / Manali / Srinagar), to acquaint yourself with the high altitude, keep sipping on Ginger water! Yes you heard it right - stop by the local market and buy a piece of fresh ginger - get the hotel folks to help you OR cut it into small pieces and add it to hot/ warm water n sip on it! One of our friends that treks regularly shared this tip! Especially for someone with Low BP / shortness of breath, this was a life-saver and I didn't need to take any medication for altitude sickness.. Yet everytime you walk up the stairs or bend down to pick something from the floor, watch out as the world spins far faster than it should, esp the 1st 24-48 hours of landing into Leh! :)
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